By Residents of the Egbatedo and Owode-Igbona areas of Osogbo were thrown into panic this week after a wave of suspected cult-related violence left at least two people dead, four others injured, and several vehicles destroyed, police and local sources have confirmed.
What the police say
The Osun State Police Command confirmed the killings in a statement issued Thursday by its spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi. According to the police, the violence unfolded in two separate incidents on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
One person was killed in the Egbatedo clash, with four others injured and currently receiving treatment. Police said two suspects connected to that incident have been arrested and have reportedly given useful information implicating others. A second person was killed in a related clash in the Owode-Igbona area, though no arrests have yet been made in that case. Officers recovered a pistol, three rounds of ammunition, and five cartridges from one of the scenes.
Governor Adeleke reacts
Governor Ademola Adeleke condemned the killings and called for calm, directing security agencies to move swiftly against those responsible. In a statement released Thursday through his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor pushed back against speculation linking the state government to the unrest.
“We receive with concern the recent suspected cult killing at Osogbo, and we call on security agencies to enforce the law and go after the culprits. The killing and the subsequent rampage are condemnable,” the governor was quoted as saying. He added that the violence “should be curtailed immediately so as not to complicate the delicate security situation after recent political violence in the state” and called on security agencies to investigate and apprehend those responsible.
The statement went further than simply condemning the killing; it also sought to distance the governor from any suggestion of state involvement while placing the incident in the context of the ruling Accord party’s own recent losses. According to the statement, the Accord is still mourning several members allegedly killed by political thugs in recent weeks, and “neither the governor nor his government were involved in these unfortunate incidents.” The statement urged members of the public to disregard what it called “fake news and propaganda,” insisting that responsibility for investigating and bringing culprits to account lay with security agencies.
What residents and local sources are reporting
Beyond the official police account, unverified reports circulating on social media, including from the handle Naija Confra and the community page Inside Òsogbo, paint a fuller, though still unconfirmed, picture of how the violence may have started and spread.
According to these accounts, a former leader of one cult faction was killed on the night of July 15 in the Egbatedo area, reportedly by members of a rival cult group alongside political thugs linked to one of the local parties. Other members of the slain man’s group were also said to have been affected in the attack, though their conditions were not independently verified.
The social media reports further allege that tensions had been building for some time, pointing to an earlier daytime incident in which armed individuals were said to have entered a rival group’s territory in the Oke Baale area, an act some residents described as a political rally and others viewed as deliberate provocation. That incident, sources claim, may have set the stage for the night attack that followed.
Following the initial killing, residents reported hearing gunshots in multiple locations across Osogbo, with further retaliatory attacks reported over the following day. An uninvolved commercial bus driver was reportedly caught up in the violence, and several motor park garages allegedly linked to political thugs were destroyed.
Separately, Inside Òsogbo reported that tension gripped the Idi-Seke area of Osogbo in the early hours of July 16 following a violent confrontation between suspected rival cult groups, which reportedly left at least two persons dead and several others injured. Eyewitnesses described sporadic gunshots and a rapid escalation of violence that sent residents and business owners fleeing for safety. Several vehicles parked in the area, including commercial buses and vans, were vandalized, with windscreens smashed and bodywork damaged, according to photos accompanying the report. Some injured victims were said to have been taken to a nearby hospital, and commercial activity in the area was temporarily disrupted. Security operatives had reportedly been deployed to the area to restore order by the time the report was filed.
A recurring pattern of concern
Local commentators have raised concerns that the recurring cult-related violence in Osun State is being fuelled, at least in part, by political actors who allegedly release known cult members and violent offenders from custody for political gain, only for those individuals to later carry out attacks tied to old rivalries. AfrikTimes could not independently verify these claims, and no official confirmed such releases in connection with this week’s violence. However, there have been killings in the past that were tied to political activities and the upcoming elections in the state.
What happens next
With two people confirmed dead by police and unconfirmed reports suggesting a higher toll and wider unrest across multiple Osogbo neighbourhoods, pressure is mounting on the Osun State Police Command to widen its investigation beyond the two suspects already in custody. Residents in the affected areas have called on the state government and security agencies to intensify efforts against cult-related activities, warning that failure to act decisively could see the violence escalate further.
